EEB 3250/5250 Lab

General Info
The labs will follow the syllabus outlined on the Biology of the Algae website. The handouts will be posted here by Friday before each lab. It will save you some time and stress if you read the handout at least superficially before the lab.
Not all, but most of the labs will likely take the full 3 hours they are scheduled for. FYI.

Coleodesmium wrangeli

Field Trip 9/6/08

Field Trip

Lab 1 - August 25th

We are going outside, so dress accordingly (including footware).
Here are the handouts we will be using in the first lab:

ocular micrometer handout

handout for lab 1

1st Field Trip - September 6th

In spite of the weather threat, we've collected algae at Harkness Memorial State Park - yay! I will bring them to lab on Monday. We have extras for those who didn't come out with us, so everyone will be able to get a few specimens pressed. I WILL BE IN LAB FROM 1 PM (office hour). YOU CAN COME PRESS YOUR ALGAE THEN IF YOU ARE WORRIED YOU WON'T HAVE TIME DURING OR AFTER LAB.

Lab 2 - September 8th

Some terms you should look at before you go to lab on Monday

Handout for labs 2 and 3. This is the minimum you need to know for the upcoming quiz, including specified parts of the supplemental handouts I will bring to lab on Monday. There may be some optional material for you to look at, but you will not be quizzed on that.

Lab 3 - September 15th

We will be using the handouts from last time. Don't forget to bring them to lab. This lab may not be as busy as the previous one, but take this as an opportunity to look at the specimens and slides again if you need to. There is a quiz coming up the following Monday.

Lab 4 - September 22nd

Lab Quiz 1: I will ask you to identify several herbarium specimens (mostly to genus) and place them in the correct class and/or order, identify structures on permanent slides and determine what stage of the life cycle they represent. I will NOT ask you to draw life cycles of red algae, but you should be familiar with them enough to answer fairly detailed questions about them.

Lab 5 - September 29th

First 5 identified taxa due (this is negotiable but highly recommended).
We're using the same handout as in lab 4 and we will go over life cycles of brown algae, so bring your handout from last Wednesday's lecture.
There will be fresh material to look at and there will be some points given for sectioning live Fucus and/or Laminaria, so make sure I see your work at some point during the lab.

Lab 6 - October 6th

First, we'll go collecting around campus (in case of rain we'll go to the greenhouse). Then we'll make some semi-permanent slides and then we'll look at some prepared and fresh material.

Lab6&7 2008.pdf

Making semipermanent slides.pdf

Lab 7 - October 13th

We'll be using the same handout as last week. You'll finish looking at prepared and fresh material and we'll go on a brief tour of the collections facility. If there is time left, you are welcome to work on your IDs. Also, I will be in lab from 1pm on, so feel free to come early and work on whatever you need. If there is interest, I can be there before or after lecture as well, or at least leave the room open for you. Let me know.

Lab 8 - October 20th

Quiz 2 on brown and green algae.
We will go collecting out- or indoors, and we will look at prepared slides of diatoms and some fresh material.

Handout for labs 8 and 9.

Lab 9 - October 27th

We will go collect some diatoms from the greenhouse, then go over some basic terms in diatom morphology and finish looking at prepared material. If you have time left, you should work on your identifications.
I will also explain how to record coordinates on your microscope stage, which you will need to do for your microalgae collection.
Next 10 taxa will be due in two weeks (again, this is negotiable, but the semester is going fast, so I highly recommend getting them to me as soon as you can).

Lab 10 - November 3rd

Handout for Lab 10

Lab 11 - November 10th

10 taxa due!

Handout for Lab 11: Cyanobacteria

Lab 12 - November 17th

Quiz #3: Know the terms from diatom, cyanobacterial, chryso/synurophyte, and dinoflagellate morphology. No life cycles.
Open lab - work on your IDs.

Lab 13 - December 1st

Open lab

Taxon collection due Friday, Dec. 5th

Guidelines for Taxon Collection for EEB 3250

Chroococcus tenax

Some cool links
If you'd like to explore the amazing world of algal diversity, here's a couple of links I personally find cool. The Tree of Life is a nice one to start with. Can you locate algae on the tree of life? Are they in a single place, all neatly together? Well, look and see.This is a nice gallery of algae images, sorted by phylum.
If you know what organism you are looking for, you will likely find it here. No pictures though.
Some info on macroscopic marine algae.Here you can find information on some of the morphologically most impressive algae - diatoms and desmids.
More about desmids here.

Virtual Phycology Collection at the George Stafford Torrey Herbarium, University of Connecticut. This contains over 800 images of pressed, dried algae on herbarium sheets.